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 Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:17 pm
(pg. 44-49 Order 14: Show Must Go On)
By the time Kateri arrives at Enrico's office, he is almost ready to go... Grey longcoat edged in purple... White priests' uniform... White 'Iscariot' gloves... Attitude.
"Are you ready, My Apprentice?"
He grins in anticipation of a good night's hunt.
"When am I ever not?"
He shrugs and smiles.
"Let us go do our Holy Duty, then."
They board the night train to the city's outer edge. "Area of suspect or just a hunch Father?"
"General patrol, mostly. Shush."
Another person on the train shuffles slowly past the two, raising a quiet eyebrow at Fr. Maxwell's uniform color, but says nothing and keeps walking, until he is well out of the car and into the next.
"Anyway. General partrol, and the suspected area of a vampire. One of our own was lost there last week."
His eyes steel and he growls slightly.
And if anyone ever tells me again that I do not care for my men, they will be SORELY mistaken!
She recognizes the mettle of Maxwell's character when it appeared. The man may have questionable views on some matters, but within his own code he was steadfast and iron hard. They would seek the missing paladin until they found him safe or until they found his body and sent to final death the one who had killed him.
As the train stops at it's outmost destination within the city of Rome, the two paladins exit.
"It is still some time away... let us use our speed and, sticking to the shadows, we should be there shortly."
His eyes are still steel, focused on this mission.
She has less a die hard focus, and is more concerned with sensing out if a very powerful one such as Lucavi was in the area and causing the problem. That vampire still gave her cold sweats at night. Damn him and all his kind to eternal hell, she thought.
Within short order they arrive at the suspected area.
"He was lost in this area. Assumed dead."
"Dead or undead?" she muttered, trailing after Maxwell.
Maxwell snarls
"Dead. For even in death is there hope for the soul... in unlife... there is nothing."
"Yes Father. Poor bastards." Her tone is mixed, though unquestioning.
"Indeed. We are earthly agents of God's Divine Punishment. We will do our duty, no matter what the cost."
Maxwell stops suddenly, motioning for silence
"There is one nearby. A weak one. Would you like to have the honors of hunting it?"
"Gladly." She put to use her inborn senses, tracking the whereabouts of the nearby blood drinker. She shoved aside the sick feeling of having to fight one of Thirteen's own. Maxwell had said their own was assumed dead, not undead.
Maxwell smiles assuredly, darkly. He had high hopes, expectations, and belief in his chosen apprentice. He knew she could take this vampire alone most likely... but just in case... he was there.
She will not fall... not while I am here to protect her! ... My Apprentice...
His thoughts choke for a moment, thinking of the battle in which he almost lost her...
I will not let such a thing happen to her! I will not!
His expression fades again to a paladin's steel hunt expression. Calm, steely determination. And a little fanaticism.
It was nearby. A block, no this half of the block. To her right. She tilts her head fractionally, scanning the shadows, beginning at ground level. Her body swivels with her focus as her sight tracks upwards to the rooftops.
There! Her senses flash like a torpedo on target. She 'saw' it move from one roof to another, felt that ethereal connection between his inhuman presence and her human soul. Quietly she reaches for her sword.
The vampire grins, seeing the young paladin, and jumps smoothly off the rooftop, hoping to land on Kateri's back and knocking her prostrate.
Fool. You're mine.
Kateri is knocked off her feet as the vampire hits her from behind, but as she rolls up, the dagger she'd drawn sticks from the belly of the vampire. A strike of opportunity not of accuracy. She draws her full blade and leaps in for an offensive strike at its neck.
The vampire hisses and reels back with the dagger in his chest. He leaps backward about half a block and painfully draws the dagger out of his chest. And then, in a fit of frustration, snaps it in half, throwing the segments aside.
"... blessed blades... of course."
He grins cockily, his wound slowly trying to heal... aggravated damage from the Holiness of the blade.
Where is the other? The Dark One that has been flitting about...?
"Silver for wolves, blessing for dogs." Kateri closes the distance between herself and her prey.
The vampire scowls and hisses
"Stupid paladin!"
By which time she has closed the gap and is attempting to behead the undead monster.
A few blocks away, another vampire begins to close the distance to the fight, sensing the conflict.
Hm. Paladins. Familiar people. ... but it is too late for me now. Far too late. My mission has changed. I now have one beyond my original. They are limited... I am not.
He grins evilly and leaps onto the corner of an apartment building, sitting there and watching silently, like some odd gargoyle, his dirty white coat flapping gently in the breeze... it's purple edges tattered and his black suit bloodstained.
An apprentice. A female. There is another here as well... where is he?
The vampire looks around, trying to locate this other paladin.
Maxwell, a few blocks behind Kateri, watches her fight with pride.
You fight well, My Apprentice. Very well.
He perks
Another comes. Another young one. Ah well, this first is as good as dusted... should not be a worry.
The white-coated vampire senses Maxwell and bounces silently across the rooftops, past Kateri and the other vampire, to see which high-level paladin called this young paladin 'apprentice'.
Maxwell! ... Fool.
He grins again, for reasons unknown.
The first vampire reels as he ducks, Kateri's blade nicking his neck and shoulder
She's fast!
He tumbles to the side and skitters up a half-dead tree.
Coverage. ... and like hell she can fight in a tree!
He grins superiorly. He thinks he has won. Like a cat up a tree with a dog on the ground, he feels safe.
Kateri paused to grin at the vampire's 'escape'. Two daggers emerge from her belt and are thrown, this time with aim and accuracy. As they leave her hands, she leaps for the tree, fully comfortable with the idea of climbing and fighting at the same time. There was, after all, a reason she'd demanded pants rather than a nun's robes.
The daggers hit the vampire quite squarely, breaking off some branches in their path to hit him, and he wavers in his crouch, hurting.
This is not good...
As Kateri jolts the tree in her climbing, the vampire teeters and falls out of the tree, falling with a loud painful thud to the ground, lying prone on the ground.
... gotta get these daggers out... gotta... run... away... young she is... but powerful...!
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:58 pm
(pg. 44-49 Order 14: Show Must Go On)
And about a block away, the white-coated vampire sees Maxwell beneath him
So... Maxwell. What do you think of me now?
He leaps silently off the roof over Maxwell, aiming for the priest's back.
You're mine, fool!
A gleam, and a saber seems to grow out of this young vampires' chest, coming out his back, squarely through his heart.
"Foolish vampire. You really thought you could sneak up on a paladin?"
The white-coated one coughs, a few flecks of blood spattering against Maxwell's cheek and a dribble of blood running out of his mouth,
"... sorry Father..."
A look of shock, worry, and fear crosses his eyes
...And Maxwell sneers, but his sneer is not all hate... also fear, annoyance, and disbelief
... One of our own... a vampire! I'd heard about... but... not seen... no... this can't be!
He drops his saber in shock, sending both it and the paralyzed paladin-vampire to the ground.
...no.
His breath chokes for a moment - then a command is barked.
"Kateri! Finish him."
Meaning the vampire she was currently dealing with.
He stands over the paralyzed paladin-vampire
"... you are lost now. Lost soul. How... pitiful."
He says, with tears of disbelief and unease welling in his eyes.
"... vampires... all stand equal in the eyes of God... nothing but demons..."
His sneer turns to a snarl, and he reaches down, grabbing the paladin-vampires' lapels.
"Who did this to you? WHO!?!"
The paladin-vampire coughs weakly, hissing vaguely
"... what does it... matter to you... human. We are better than you... we can do anything now... we, the damned... who else better to hunt the damned than one of their own... we can pursue anything... and we can do anything... we are the ultimate hunters... we, Dark Thirteen... God's Will be Done."
He coughs again, but cannot move
Maxwell sneers again, dropping the ex-paladin to the ground once more
"... any hope for you has now gone, boy... I, a true servant of God, might have forgiven you... but you are indeed nothing... no soul left... only a demon... nothing is left for you anymore... not here, not in heaven."
Maxwell draws another blade, and, with one swift and clean motion, severs the ex-paladin's head, turning his unholy body to dust.
"... God's justice be done."
And then, and only then, does one single solitary tear dare run down his cheek.
Her speed is as swift as her will to obey her Master. Her target vampire isn't given time to register its own impending death before Kateri has severed its head and the thing turned to ancient dust.
She walks back up the street, slowly taking in the scene of a second vampire's dust and an impassioned Maxwell.
"It is done then. For them both." Sensing something deeper, a sick suspicion, she dares to add, "May God find mercy for their souls."
Maxwell looks away, ashamed of his few tears, but knowing they needed to be shed. He picks up the blade that had fallen after the vampire had turned to dust. He sheathes the two blades of his, then turns his body to align with his face, turning away from Kateri.
"... Amen."
With that he begins a slow stride back to the train station.
Kateri follows, the streets filled with the sound of silence.
A long walk later, the two paladins are on the train returning home. Maxwell silently stares out the window, leaning his chin in his hand.
Why... I understand how... but... why? Why did a paladin try to continue an unholy existence? Who is making them? Why do they continue when they cannot hold any hope? I... I just... I don't understand...!
He shifts uneasily in his chair and another tear threatens to slide down his cheek.
"Father. The one you killed...our missing paladin...the one presumed dead." He was dead, but not at peace.
She shivers as the icy thought enters her that the fate of that poor paladin was nearly her own just a short time ago.
Maxwell nods silently and the tear falls.
The two living paladins ride in silence back to the Vatican. Kateri fears the peace of a good hunt has eluded her tonight and hopes her friend and fellow paladin, Sister Bernadette, is still awake.
Sr. Bernadette, Dot to her friends, is getting ready for bed, having just returned from her own night of hunting with her own Master, Sister Yumiko, sometimes called Yumie. Dot is currently rummaging in the refrigerator in hers and Kateri's suite of rooms, wearing her tan flannel set of pajamas.
... Where did Kateri put the milk?
Kateri walks in and the door snaps shut inadvertently. "Whoops, pardon that. You're still up?"
As the door to the rooms snaps shut, Dot quickly stands up, her shoulder-length hair flailing about her face, and her glasses slipping down her nose a bit.
"Whu? Oh, Kateri, hi! Yes, I just got back from a hunt. Yourself as well?"
Her voice is as chipper as one can be after a good long hunt.
"Yeah, me too. Going to be up a bit?" Kateri reaches for the milk jug before Dot can put it back and pours herself a tall one. Pops it in the microwave for about half a minute. Something to sooth her nerves she guessed, an old wives tale but maybe it had merit.
Dot nods.
"Yeah, most likely. It's always hard to sleep directly after a good night of hunting."
She grins cutely and sits down on the couch, flipping on the TV to the weatherchannel.
"After a good hunt, right." She flops on the couch with her warm milk. "Dot, do you ever think about the vampires as humans?"
Dot looks to her friend
"Hm? Yeah, I know most if not all of those we hunt were human at one point... but they're vampires now... what does it matter? Our mission is to eradicate them - To protect God's people."
She takes a sip of her cold milk, looking slightly perplexed.
"Of course. But...what if something made you think of them as human? You don't want to, but the fact remains. A good human, one who should never have been a vampire." One who didn't have Master Maxwell to save them.
Dot swallows her milk with a hard gulp.
"... I don't know. I hope I never have to send any one I'd recognize to their final death..."
She looks a bit like a deer in the headlights at the thought, but says nothing further, sipping her milk.
"Yeah, me too." Like one of us recognizing the other. Thank God I didn't have to see the paladin tonight. I don't want to know if I knew him. Or her.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:47 pm
Fr. Maxwell sits in his office-chair, swiveling around in circles. It had been a slow day.
I wonder how Kateri fares... I have not seen my apprentice for awhile. I hope nothing is amiss...
He stops swiveling and reaches over to his phone/intercom system and pages to Kateri's room.
I wonder if she's in?
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:27 pm
It is a cotton filled voice that answers. "Kateri here." She and Dot had been up walking the paths of the Vatican until the early morning.
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Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:35 pm
"Ah. My apprentice. Glad to hear from you. It's been awhile. How are things?"
Maxwell puts his feet up on his desk as he leans back in his office chair.
Renaldo walks through the office, shakes his head silently, but says nothing.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:38 pm
"Only half awake, Father. Dot and I were out late. Walking. Training is more interesting now that the good teachers have gotten used to the fact that I can take injury. Perhaps you and I might spar again soon?"
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Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:50 pm
"I see."
He chuckles at the interesting training sessions Kateri would likely put the teachers through on a regular basis.
"Sparring? I would have to say this is a distinct possibility, my apprentice."
A moment's pause-
"When would be good for you?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:23 am
"How about whenever I wake up naturaly rather than right now?" She pauses to let a yawn pass, "Tell you what, I'll come by your office later and if you've time then, we can clear out one of the classrooms."
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Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:45 pm
Enrico nods to himself
"A nap in the middle of the day? This is unlike you. Have you not been sleeping well, my apprentice?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:35 pm
"I told you, Father, Dot and I were out late walking about the grounds." No need, she thought, to tell him she hadn't been sleeping well, not since the double hunt they'd had a short time ago. She had had an ugly suspicion then and Maxwell's behavior towards the subject since had only deepened it.
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Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:39 pm
Enrico snorts
"And since when have long nights affected you, Kateri? You love our nighttime hunts!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:13 pm
"Well, maybe I'm getting old? I don't know. Meet you in a few hours though? Where, your office or the training wing?"
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Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 7:27 pm
Enrico chuckles
"Even if you were getting old, you wouldn't really feel it, thanks to our technologies!"
A pause-
"Meet me in my office - in full robes, to simulate true experience."
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:43 pm
"Agreed then." Kateri hung up the phone, stretched and set about to find her robes.
Shortly after she was at his door knocking sharply before entering. "I'm ready, Father."
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Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:38 pm
Enrico straightens the collar on his fighting robes' coat and turns around to look at his apprentice.
"Shall we, then?"
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